Review: To mark the 50th release on his now 20-year-old Neroli imprint, head honcho Volcov has asked friends and label artists to deliver "heart-warming melodies and atmospheric songs" that in some way draw inspiration from the Brian Eno piece after which the label was named. It's a neat idea and one that has resulted in a string of superb pieces, many of which sit somewhere between ambient, new age and the "Fourth World" work of Jon Hassell. Highlights include - but are no way limited to - the eyes-closed jazz guitar solos and deep space electronics of Gerald Mitchell, Volcov and Pirahnahead's "Snow", the sun-bright bliss of Patrice Scott's "Untitled", the fretless bass-sporting cinematic rush of Kirk Degiorgio's "Leave Everything Behind" and the ultra-deep liquid techno that is Fred P's "Star Crossed".

Review: Bochum Welt's 2019 album "Seafire" was arguably one of the strongest full-length sets that Central Processing Unit has released to date, which given the Sheffield-based label's track record is high praise indeed. This EP offers fresh interpretations of some of the album's many highlights. First up is a perfectly pitched radio edit of "More Light" a gorgeous slice of IDM bliss that recalls the halcyon days of Boards of Canada, which is later given a slightly chunkier - but no less beautiful - treatment by EOD and a bustling, club-ready electro re-fix, complete with Yorkshire bleeps, by veteran DJ/producer James Zabeila. Elsewhere, the ambient mix of "G1" is as luscious and blissful as you'd expect, while Teflon Tel Aviv's revision of "Color Me" is opaque, sun-kissed and more than a little spaced-out.

Review: Over the last few years, Geir Jennsen has been quietly offering up re-mastered and often expanded reissues of many of his most sought-after albums, including many that have previously never been released on wax. He's at it again here, delivering a weighty triple-vinyl version of one of his lesser-celebrated LPs, 2006's "Dropsone", which boasts seven previously unheard tracks and alternate takes recorded during the same period. Musically, it's one of the most unique sets in Jennsen's catalogue, in part because it mixes his usual ambient textures, chords and melodies with simmering strings, warmer melodies and - most notably - some genuine jazz rhythms. Whereas many of his albums are icy and otherworldly, "Dropsone" is positively sun-kissed and summery.

Review: In line with the timely reappraisal of all things R&S related, the resurgent Apollo have seen the opportunity to bring one of their most celebrated records back for another round. Aphex Twin's ambient recordings mature magnificently with age, sounding ever richer and more emotive as the rest of electronic music continues to play catch up all around. From the gentle breakbeats of "Xtal" to the aquatic techno lure of "Tha", the airy rave of "Pulsewidth" to the heartwrenching composition of "Ageispolis", every track is a perennial example of how far ambient techno could reach even back then. It's just that no-one quite had the arm-span of Richard D. James.

Review: There's no sign of "suspect second album syndrome" on this sophomore set from Brendan "Chymera" Gregoriy's celebrated synthesizer-fired ambient project Merrin Karras. Drawing on his love of 1980s new age and ambient records, as well as a life spent fetishising over electronic hardware, Gregoriy has delivered a set of swelling, slow-burn delights that invite you to share an imaginary journey through the Northwest Passage, a legendary route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans via the Arctic Circle that's only accessible at certain times of the year. While some of the music is undeniably icy, there's genuine sonic warmth too; after all, when you can traverse the passage it's light 24 hours a day. In a word: gorgeous.

Review: As Autechre set out on an extensive live tour, Warp has decided the time is right to reissue their 1994 classic, Amber, on vinyl. Given that it's been unavailable on wax since then, and second hand prices have shot through the roof, this is undoubtedly a good thing. It remains one of the legendary duo's standout albums: a peerless collection of brilliant IDM tunes offering a perfect balance between the glistening, atmospheric melodiousness of their early work, and the crunchy, mathematical rhythms of their later releases. There are moments of eyes-closed calm ("Silverside"), bubbly, melody-led workouts ("Montreal", "Slip"), far-out electro missives ("Glitch"), and the odd icy epic (the brilliant "Further").

Review: Kompakt main man and ambient maestro Wolfgang Voigt served up some of his finest work yet on the Ruckverzauberung album a couple of years ago. Now Astral Industries treats us to a live recording of said album, taken from Voigt's performance at Hackney venue St Johns Church in March last year. The dark and brooding soundscapes of this modern classical exploration take on a new and dynamic dimension as his immersive compositions of haunting, densely layered strings and sinister swirling pads transport you to another world, behind the mirror. A fine release from Astral Industries.

Review: Downtempo dream team Jonny Nash and Suzanne Kraft join forces once more for another excursion far out to sea. Their ambient soundscapes are as lush as they come and are the perfectly transportive sounds we need right now. From mellow and melancholic piano chords to meandering synth lines there is lots to get lost in here, always with a real sense of slowly unfolding narrative and deep sense of immersion. The tenderness of this duo seems to know no bounds as they continue to find truly moving beauty in the most minimal of compositions.

Review: In 2018, Nils Frahm initiated the "Encores" series: a trilogy of EPs exploring different aspects of his musical world. Here, those sets get gathered together on vinyl for the very first time. Listened to in sequence, it sees the Berlin-based pianist and composer offer up solo acoustic pieces for piano and harmonium (tracks 1 to 5), before layering up piano, processed field recordings and complimentary instrumentation on a suite of sublime ambient tracks (6 to 9). The final section of the album - originally "Encores 3" - sees him flip the script entirely, working almost exclusively with a combination of modular and analogue synthesizers and electronically processed voices. That the collection hangs together as a coherent album despite these stylistic shifts is testament to Frahm's abilities both as a performer and producer.

Review: For the latest release in their ongoing "Esplande Series" focusing on the work of Japanese ambient minimalists, Swiss reissue specialists WRWTFWW have decided to deliver a new edition of Motohiko Hamase's rather good - but very hard to find - 1988 release "Notes of Forestry". It remains a remarkable work, sitting somewhere between the fluid and heavenly electronics of new age ambient, the cyclical minimalist movements of Steve Reich, free-jazz and the kind of free-wheeling, loose-limbed works most often associated with experimental percussionists. Hamase is a bass player by trade, and its' his fast-fingered fretless bass playing that catches the ear throughout (though it by no means dominates the sound space).

Review: According to Rafael Anton Irisarri, his first album for Dais was inspired by a desire to "focus on the personal in order to tell a wider human story" - itself a reversal of his usual more impersonal approach to music-making. Musically the eight-track set also offers a slight stylistic shift, too, with Irisarri's usual ghostly ambient chords, grandiose sound design and heavily processed electronic textures being joined by fractured snippets of choral recordings, similarly fuzzy string songs, and the kind of densely layered and intense sounds that recall the dark weightiness of heavy metal. Throw in a bittersweet and melancholic tone, and you have one of Irisarri's most striking albums to date.

Review: Having previously self-released his music online, Adam London AKA Bedroom has finally found a home to showcase his particular brand of immersive, slow-burning ambient music - albeit via a release of which only 100 copies are available worldwide. While this means you'll have to be fast to secure a copy, we'd recommend making the investment. The Chicago-based producer's work is fluid, warm, dreamy and drifting, with his extensive use of glistening, reverb-laden electric guitar solos, opaque chords and other 'traditional' acoustic instruments - there's occasional and well-placed piano, cello, viola and violin - recalling the work of Jonny Nash and the superb Music From Memory label. While London's work has its own distinct flavour, it paddles in similarly sunset-ready waters - and is every bit as alluring.

Review: Second time around for Julianna Barwick and Rafael Anton Irisarri's lauded contribution to the THESIS label's series of collaborative 10-inch singles. The 2017 set has been in high demand since it first appeared in stores, and with a limited number available outside the US for the first time we're expecting it to sell out in double-quick time. Musically, it's one of the most picturesque things that Irissari has been involved in. The untitled opener delivers a near perfect fusion of layered improvised vocals and wispy ambient electronics, while the track that follows brilliantly builds to a crescendo of Tangerine Dream style arpeggio melodies, densely layered textures and acid-esque motifs. The flipside opener is a more softly spun, deep ambient soundscape, while the EP's closing cut is sparkling, spacey and hugely alluring.

Review: Created as an addendum to the 'Carolina' album, 'Coppice Movements', and the five movements comprising the EP, isn't so much a case of exploring new territories as it is a convincing display of just how much can be done within a relatively strict conceptual framework. One of the joys of drone in forms tied to ambient electronica is the deceptive sense of depth - refrains often hang on a single central tone but float, glide and flow in a manner that creates textured soundscapes on such a huge scale images of mountain tops and big country wildernesses are rarely far from the mind's eye. Zake's latest is a case in point, offering plenty of calm but complex scores primed for the self-reflective moments in time we spend considering the beauty of our world.

Review: The latest full-length excursion from the Zake Drone label brings together imprint chief Zake and Past Inside The Present collaborator Slow Dancing Society for a first collaborative outing. Comprising six slow-motion tracks that sit somewhere between drone, academic ambient, sound design, ambient techno and neo-classical, "Mirrored" is an undeniably meditative affair capable of soothing stressed minds and warming aching limbs. There are of course distinctive highlights - see the gently throbbing deep space chords and hypnotic deep techno beats of "Mirrored", the windswept-but-warm pulse of "Anamnesis" and the contemplative late night drift of "Nadir" - but the album's greatest strength is undoubtedly how it sits together as a coherent, mood-enhancing whole.

Review: Warp's Boards of Canada reissue campaign reaches Geogaddi, perhaps the duo's most expansive (if not their most popular) record, presented here on a 3LP gatefold edition. Considerably darker than its predecessor Music Has The Right To Children, the claustrophobic sounds of "Gyroscope" and sampled spoken word in tracks like "Dandelion" and "Energy Warning" present a somewhat dystopian setting, filled with unsettling sounds, such as the light but eerie melodies of "Alpha & Omega" and "1969". Undoubtedly one deserving of reappraisal.

Review: While you'll find plenty of experienced composers and producers on A Strangely Isolated Place's quietly impressive roster of artists, the Californian label is also excellent at showcasing new talents. They're at it again here, offering up a debut from previously unheard Sardinian artist Blinkar Fran Norr. The eight tracks tend towards the more becalmed, meditative and immersive end of the ambient spectrum, with Norr prioritizing swelling, stretched-out chords, hushed aural textures, atmospheric field recordings, ghostly strings and unearthly instrumental sounds that invite you in for dinner and then persuade you to stay for the weekend. It's beautiful and beguiling, for sure, but also touched with a hint of sadness. As debuts go, it's really rather impressive.

Review: When asked to describe the thinking behind her first album for Ghostly International in one sentence, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith told the label that is was an, "expression of love and appreciation for electricity". There are some deeper and more complex concepts at play, too, but it seems a little unnecessary to list them here; after all, Smith's majestic and mesmerising modular movements can be enjoyed regardless of the admirable inspirations behind them. From start to finish "The Mosaic of Transformation" ripples with ear-catching electronics, unfurling melodic refrains, attractive otherworldly sounds, dreamy layered vocals and emotive, meditative motifs. At times, her synthesizer compositions are almost neo-classical in structure and feel, making the album one of Smith's most widescreen works to date.

Review: Since making his debut in the early 2010s, Berlin-based American Steve Huerta has delivered a string of rock solid, dancefloor-focused EPs. On debut album "Junipero", he's decided to mix things up, delivering a warm, woozy, atmospheric and picturesque set of tracks designed to ease tired minds in the comfort of the home. There's a few nods towards the dancefloor present - not least the toasty and dreamy breakbeat house cut "All Wild Things Are Shy" and bustling "Waxwing Air" - but for the most part the set settles in to a comfortably melodious and gently enveloping blend of blissful ambient, dub-flecked electronic soundscapes, spaced-out IDM and intergalactic electronica. It's a hugely enjoyable journey.

Review: Three years ago, Giuseppe Tillieci and Filippo Scorcucchi joined forces as LF58 for a debut EP of blissful ambient epics on Auxiliary that arguably didn't get the coverage its quality deserved. We have a sneaking feeling that the pair's debut album, which lands on the fantastic Astral Industries imprint, won't go unnoticed. For starters, it's brilliant, with the four lengthy tracks seeing them drift between Global Communication/Irresistible Force style melodic positivity (the hazy effects, huggable pads and echoing melodies of "Iniziazione"), ultra-deep, psychedelic dub techno ("Rituale", where simple melodic refrains wind in and out of sparse but hypnotic beats), swelling tropical ambient warmth with added deep space effects ("Metamorfosi") and the kind of languid, slow-motion fare that sits somewhere between Pete Namlook and Spacetime Continuum (side D suite "Evocazione/Contatto/Risveglio").

Review: Sound scientist Brock Van Wey decided to mix things up during the making of his latest album, the decidedly bittersweet and weary "Ten Times The World Lied". To begin with, he decided to deliver an album without vocals - the first time he's ever done that - before opting to record a track a month, on the tenth day of each, for ten months. Furthermore, each densely layered track was recorded and mixed live. The results are impressive, with Van Wey offering mostly melancholic - but intensely beautiful - collages of layered ambient chords, effects-laden melodic movements and extreme aural textures that fill every invisible nook and cranny of the sound space.

Review: Even by the standards of ambient artists, Celer AKA Will Long is insanely prolific. It's why he's already been the subject of one must-have box set (Smalltown Supersound's five-disc "Memory Repetitions"), and can easily make his new album, "Future Predictions", a sprawling, four-disc affair. As those familiar with his work will attest, few are capable of crafting works of such stunningly swelling beauty. All four extended pieces here - all of which were created by layering tapes loops of instruments to give the effect of a live ensemble, with added processed field recordings and sound effects - are breath-taking, delivering the kind of emotive, immersive ambience that provides a meditative distraction from the stresses of everyday life.

Review: Widely regarded as Boards of Canada's finest hour, Music Has The Right To Children finds itself the subject of a well-deserved 2LP gatefold reissue from Warp Records. One of the most defining records of what was known for better or worse as IDM still sounds as timeless as it did in 1998, as the library tones of "Wildlife Analysis", thick downtempo rhythms of "Roygbiv" and out of focus melodies of "Olson" prove. Essential!

Review: Few records could sound better suited to Emotional Rescue's reissue remit than soft rock / synth pop artists turned sound healers Chris Spheeris and Paul Voudouris. "Passage" was a commission by a company doing biofeedback therapy who wanted a soundtrack for their clients' treatment, resulting in a gem of early American ambient music. Originally released in 1982 and now lovingly restored, artwork and all, Spheeris and Voudouris' three lengthy compositions are as soothing as the remit demanded. Whatever your internal ails, there's restorative qualities in these pieces that can't help but do good, even as a pure pleasure trip to let yourself melt into.

Review: Astonishing, 22 years have passed since the release of Stefan Betke's debut album as Pole. Along with the "2" and "3" albums that followed in 1999 and 2000 respectively, it helped establish him as a producer with a defiantly distinctive, dub-fired sound: a brand of electronic minimalism that drew just as much on ambient and micro-house as it did techno and of course reggae soundsystem culture. Crackly, spaced-out, hypnotic and mind-soothing, all three albums sound as fresh now as they did when they were first released. Helpfully, Mute has decided to reissue all three at once via this box set. There are no bells and whistles, just three essential albums in a plain black box. If you don't own them already, you know what to do.

Review: REPRESS ALERT: Schleissen 1 marks the beginning of a major, four-part project from Stuart Leath's Emotional Response label; an in-depth exploration of the "outer reaches" of drone and ambient. It's a grand scheme, highlighted perfectly by the grandiose scale of Serbian maverick Abul Mogard's opener - a hypnotic, 19-minute exploration of modular drone music that's as freaky as it is beautiful. Stefan Schwander dons his now familiar Harmonious Thelonious alias on the flip, laying down two brilliantly melodious synthesizer pieces inspired by the cyclical compositions of acclaimed minimalist composer Steve Reich. Both pieces are borderline stunning, and more than worth the admission price.

Review: Music For Dreams' compilations are rarely less than essential, and this collection of recent Japanese music (2008-2018) is no different. Compiled by Ken Hidaka, Tokyo-based Max Essa and Test Pressing co-founder Dr Rob, the set starts with a beautiful and becalmed ambient piece by Yoshio Ojima (the sublime "Sealed") and ends with the lapping waves, vocal harmonies and twinkling pianos of Takashi Kokubo ("Quiet Inlet"). In between, you'll find the Steve Reich-ish marimba movements of Yoshiaki Ochi, the dubbed-out, piano-laden downtempo grooves of Little Tempo, the jazzy Balearic house of Schadaraparr, the sun-kissed dancefloor grooves of Little Big Bee and much more besides. As you'd expect, Hidaka, Essa and Dr Rob's selections are uniformly superb.

Review: In 1980, avant-garde musician Ellen Fullman decided to build her own unusual, grand-scale instrument out of 70-foot long wires and a metal pole. Played by the performer moving their rosin-covered hands over the wires, "the long string instrument" (as she imaginatively called it) became the sole sound source of a trio of tape-only albums Fullman recorded in the 1980s. This double vinyl set includes recordings from two of those, "In The Sea" and "Work For Four Players & 90 Strings". The pieces are long, seductive, minimalist and meditative, offering shifting, droning tones similar in style to some Indian instruments. It's remarkable stuff all told and well worth further investigation.

Review: In line with the timely reappraisal of all things R&S related, the resurgent Apollo have seen the opportunity to bring one of their most celebrated records back for another round on CD. Aphex Twin's ambient recordings mature magnificently with age, sounding ever richer and more emotive as the rest of electronic music continues to play catch up all around. From the gentle breakbeats of "Xtal" to the aquatic techno lure of "Tha", the airy rave of "Pulsewidth" to the heartwrenching composition of "Ageispolis", every track is a perennial example of how far ambient techno could reach even back then. It's just that no-one quite had the arm-span of Richard D. James.

Review: If there's one thing that the recent spate of Motohiko Hamase reissues proves, it was that the Japanese jazz bassist turned ambient experimentalist was impressively versatile. So while 1988's "Notes of Forestry" saw him explore pastoral sounds, miminalist motifs and new age synthesizers, by 1993 he'd moved on to making hypnotic blends of leftfield house and techno. "Technodrome", then, is a highly unusual but must-check set: an album in which his free-jazz bass and guitar solos weave in and out of hypnotic lo-fi drum machine rhythms, ghostly chords, minimalist techno motifs and bubbly, mind-altering electronic motifs. The album has been described as "ambient house" before, but that really doesn't do justice to its inventiveness and complexity. Recommended.

Review: Norwegian ambient veteran Biosphere has enjoyed something of a renaissance of late, thanks in no small part to a series of essential reissues of his 1990s work. His latest release, "The Senja Recordings", is not a reissue, though, but rather his most significant and extensive new album in years. Icy, windswept and atmospheric, it was apparently recorded during extended stays on a Norwegian island over the course of four years. There's plenty of sparse, dark ambient material, of course, but also plenty of distorted but quietly melodic compositions that mirror the loneliness of his remote surroundings. He brings us closer than ever to those surroundings via extensive use of field recordings made during his time on the island, something that only enhances the listening experience.

Review: Amongst ambient aficionados, obscure 1980s outfit The Chi Factory - a collaboration between Jacobus Derwort and Hanyo van Oosterom - has a cult following. While the duo went their separate ways in 1987, Derwort continued to work on tracks, which fused field recordings taken in far-flung locations around the world, with indigenous instrumentation and his innate ability to craft mood-altering soundscapes. The Bamboo Recordings offers the first chance to savour those previously unheard mid-to-late-80s tracks; while they've been remixed for release, they remain as trippy, inspired and intoxicating as you'd expect. Akin to a humid saunter through thick Mangrove swamps, the album feels like a long lost, tropical partner to The KLF's Chill Out.

Review: Since debuting in 2007, Brock Van Wey has released more albums as bvdub than most artists manage in a lifetime but his latest work "Explosions in Slow Motion" is something to behold. Van Wey has rarely made anything quite as heart-achingly poignant, beautiful and sorrowful as this. Fom start to finish, it's a stunning piece of work. Built around electro-acoustic manipulations of layered neo-classical works, the album's eight tracks variously throb, hum, pulse and slowly unfurl, offering slowly-shifting movements that sit somewhere between the kind of claustrophobic ambient works delivered by dub techno producers, classical minimalism and stretched-out drone works. In a word: breathtaking.

Review: Like many of his contemporaries, US producer Huerco S usually deals in wavy, trembling house amalgams, but also often deals in all things ambient and beatless. This new LP on Anthony Naples' Proibito, however, is a marked step in a different direction from the artist, and it shows us that he's more talented at the genre than merely a B2 stuck on at the end of a techno deviation. For Those Of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have) is a stunning ambient album; each track across its duration is filled with life and purpose, a clear musical and expressive direction that many so-called ambient artists lack. It's likely to be remembered for a long time, and allow this artist to be seen as having a truly experimental mindset.

Review: Three years on from their first inspired full-length collaboration, electro-acoustic experimentalists and composers Yair Elazar Glotman and Mats Erlandsson join forces once more. The result is a 50-minute suite of tracks that mixes swelling, surging orchestral movements with processed electronic sounds and a rich, bass-heavy approach to sound design. It's not quite ambient - it's too detailed, carefully crafted and intricate for that - but it isn't exactly neo-classical, either, instead existing in some kind of opaque netherworld between the two. Whatever you call it, "Emanate" is exceedingly immersive, rewarding those listeners who take time to take it all in using a great pair of headphones.

Review: Imaginary Softwoods has the kind of overwhelmingly beautiful take on ambient music that finds his early cassette-only releases being picked up and reissued on vinyl by a range of labels from Digitalis to Archives Interieures. This time around 2016 Mineral Disk release "Annual Flowers In Color" has been picked up by Amethyst Sunset, giving a fresh airing to a stunning album. The highlights are primarily the longest tracks - "Aura Show" is a stunning, glacial drone piece at heart although it goes on a sizable journey over 10 minutes. The shorter vignettes are just as delightful though - the winsome reverie of "The Geranium Room" will have you lamenting its brevity when it finishes after 65 seconds.

Review: We were full of praise for Will Long AKA Celer's recent quadruple-album set, "Future Predictions". In our review we also pointed out that his back catalogue is worth investigating, though his prolific nature can make it hard to know where to start. Helpfully Two Acorns has come to the rescue by offering up this reissue of one of his earliest - and still most potent - sets. "Scols" was initially self-released in 2006 as part of a double CD-R set, and was made alongside his then partner, the sadly departed Danielle Baquet-Long. The album effectively drew up the blueprint for much of Long's later work, delivering immersive ambient soundscapes built around layers of tape loops that together sound like swelling orchestral movements.

Review: To tie in with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings, Brian Eno has decided to put out a new edition of his decidedly spacey 1983 ambient album "Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks", which started life as the soundtrack to a long-forgotten documentary about NASA's space program. The edition is rather special, not only because it contains a remastered version of the original set created by Eno, his brother Roger and regular collaborator Daniel Lanois, but also because it contains a second disc of previously unheard material. This is not old, though, but rather brand new recordings - described as "new interpretations of the film soundtrack" - made by the Lanois and the Eno brothers late last year in a similar style. In a word: essential.